Michael Schafer, orthopedic surgeon at Northwestern who worked with city's sports clubs, dies at 76

Northwestern Medicine

Dr. Michael Schafer had a special interest in investigating better ways to treat scoliosis.

Dr. Michael Schafer had a special interest in investigating better ways to treat scoliosis. (Northwestern Medicine)

Graydon MeganChicago Tribune

Dr. Michael Schafer trained hundreds of surgeons during his 32 years as chair of orthopedic surgery at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Feinberg School of Medicine and was a medical consultant for teams including the Cubs, Bears and Blackhawks.

“If you look across the nation at high-level sports medicine people, so many had a link to Dr. Schafer, it’s remarkable,” said Dr. Sara Edwards, who trained and worked under Schafer and is now team doctor for the University of California at Berkeley

Schafer, 76, died of natural causes Oct. 17 at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, according to his son Brian. He had lived in Glenview since 1975.

He was born in Peoria and moved with his family to Aurora when he was in high school, graduating from Marmion Academy there before going on to the University of Iowa in Iowa City for both his undergraduate and medical degrees.

He chose a career in medicine during a bout with polio when he was about 10 years old, according to his son. Schafer didn’t talk much about it, but the story gradually came out that while he was hospitalized in an iron lung, an orthopedic surgeon visited him every day, his son said.

Schafer eventually made a nearly complete recovery, with no discernible lasting effects of the disease.

After graduating from medical school in 1967, he interned in orthopedic surgery in Chicago at Wesley Memorial Hospital, later part of Northwestern Memorial, then did a residency at Northwestern’s medical school from 1968 to 1972.

He served as a doctor in the Army in 1973 and 1974, then returned to Northwestern as a faculty member in the department of orthopedic surgery. In 1979 he became chair of the department. He stepped down in 2011 to be, as he put it, “just a doctor.”

In addition to the usual shoulder and knee surgeries, Schafer did complicated surgeries to correct spinal deformities that could take up to 12 hours, his son said. He had a special interest in investigating better ways to treat scoliosis.

Schafer had served as an orthopedic consultant for both the Bears and the Cubs since 1980 and was team physician for the Bears from 1990 to 2002. He also was a consultant for the Blackhawks from 1997 to 1999. Beginning in 2008, he was orthopedic consultant for Northwestern University’s athletic teams.

Dr. Terrance Peabody, who succeeded Schafer as the department chair, said his predecessor was both an excellent surgeon and a standout in working with young doctors in training.

“He really got close to them personally, supported them at all aspects of their careers. He was there emotionally for them,” Peabody said. “That’s what I hear a lot from former residents is how he got them through these programs, which are very rigorous.”

When Edwards was a resident, she said, Schafer learned — not from her — that a male doctor was making inappropriate comments to her in the operating room. “He made sure I never had to work with that person again,” she said.

Later, when she returned to Northwestern as a faculty member and was pregnant, Schafer cut her schedule back, saying he wanted to make sure she had a healthy baby. “That was him, just watching out for people,” she said.

Schafer’s work was recognized with numerous awards over the course of his career, including most recently the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation’s highly prestigious William W. Tipton, Jr., MD Leadership Award .

“He was a great family man,” Peabody said. “His family and his faith were really remarkable and an inspiration.”

Schafer is survived by his wife, Eileen; his daughter, Kathy Ryan; three other sons, Steve, Dan and Dave; sisters Lea Bitkoff and Theresa Eckman; and 18 grandchildren.